The present invention relates to an automatic image developing apparatus, and more particularly to an automatic image developing apparatus arranged for automatically cleaning a feeder assembly which feeds a photographic photosensitive material with an image recorded thereon successively through processing tanks which develop and fix the image and then wash the material.
There has recently been developed and widely used especially in the medical field a radiation image recording and reproducing system for producing the radiation-transmitted image of an object using a stimulable phosphor material capable of emitting light upon exposure to stimulating rays. When a certain phosphor is exposed to a radiation such as X-rays, .alpha.-rays, .beta.-rays, .gamma.-rays, cathode rays, or ultraviolet rays, the phosphor stores a part of the energy of the radiation. When the phosphor exposed to the radiation is subsequently exposed to stimulating rays such as visible light, the phosphor emits light in proportion to the stored energy of the radiation. The phosphor exhibiting such a property is referred to as a "stimulable phosphor".
In the radiation image recording and reproducing system employing such a stimulable phosphor, the radiation image information of an object such as a human body is stored in a sheet having a layer of stimulable phosphor, and then the stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with stimulating rays such as a laser beam to cause the stimulable phosphor sheet to emit light representative of the radiation image. The emitted light is then photoelectrically detected to produce an image information signal that is electrically processed for generating image information which is recorded as a visible image on a recording medium such as a photographic photosensitive material or displayed as a visible image on a CRT or the like.
The radiation image information stored in the stimulable phosphor sheet may permanently be recorded on a recording medium by an image recorder such as an image output laser printer, for example. In the image output laser printer, photographic films stored as a recording material in a magazine are loaded, and taken out one by one by a sheet delivery or feeding mechanism such as a suction cup. Thereafter, the film is exposed to a laser beam modulated by an image signal produced from the stimulable phosphor sheet for recording an image on the film.
The film on which the image is newly recorded is then delivered into an automatic image developing apparatus. In the automatic image developing apparatus, the film is first fed into a developing tank containing an image developing solution to develop the image, then passed through a fixing tank containing an image fixing solution to fix the developed image, and thereafter fed into a water tank containing washing water, or washing water is applied to the film as by spraying, to wash the film.
Then, the film is moved between rollers or the like in a squeezer unit to squeeze out washing water, and thereafter delivered into a drier unit in which hot air at a temperature of about 55.degree. C. is applied to the film to dry the same. Subsequently, the film is stored in a prescribed place for use in medical diagnosis, if required.
The image developing solution, the image fixing solution, and the washing water are stored in the respective tanks in the automatic image developing apparatus, as described above. A feeder assembly is disposed between the tanks for feeding the film into developing, fixing, and washing units. The feeder assembly comprises, for example, racks composed of rollers and guide plates. When the film is delivered by the feeder assembly into the tanks, the solutions are applied to the racks. If the applied solutions were left attached to the rollers and guide plates for a long period of time, the solutions would be oxidized or solidified, and the oxidized or solidified deposits would be applied to films that are subsequently passed through the tanks, resulting in processing irregularities. Therefore, it is necessary to clean the racks periodically to remove such objectionable deposits.
To clean the feeder assembly, the worker must disassemble the automatic image developing apparatus or remove the feeder assembly from the automatic image developing apparatus, after which the racks must be manually cleaned. The feeder assembly needs relatively frequent cleaning. Accordingly, the cleaning operation is considerably burdensome for the worker and also time-consuming.